By

Share

Blog Roll

The Week Ahead: June 12 to 18

“Nathan Sawaya: The Art of the Brick” at Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, 1650 Harrison St., Hollywood; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; $10 adults, $6 students and seniors; 954/921-3274 or www.artandculturecenter.org

Some kids outgrow playing with LEGOs well before the onset of puberty. Washington State native Nathan Sawaya, on the other hand, never stopped seeing the architectural and artistic possibilities of the blocky toys, and he has become arguably the world’s greatest LEGO artist. His elaborate, three-dimensional LEGO structures include models of Alfred Hitchcock and Lindsay Lohan (first time you’ve heard those two names in the same sentence, eh?), a 7-foot-long replica of the Brooklyn Bridge and a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex. “The Art of the Brick” marks Sawaya’s third solo exhibition at the Art and Culture Center; his previous shows have shattered attendance records there. The exhibit runs through Aug. 19.

The theme for this week’s Art After Dark program is a Gorey Illustration Workshop, which begins at 5 with instruction on how to draw like master illustrator Edward Gorey. But I’m most excited to see the live entertainment of mentalist and mind reader Brent Gregory, who will perform, with audience participation, from 7 to 9. Gregory’s show blends mind reading, psychology, intuition and more, using E.S.P. to make bend spoons and make bold predictions. Gregory performs mostly for corporate and private events, so this is a great opportunity to see him at a low cost, in a great venue. Tonight’s Art After Dark program also includes an acoustic performance from guitarist Michael McCleary, a gallery tour, a conversation with curator Tim Wride and a storytelling activity.

The worlds of live theater and the rock concert have perhaps never been as interconnected as they have been on “The Wall Live,” Roger Waters’ enormously successful revisiting of Pink Floyd’s epochal 1980 release “The Wall.” Beginning in 2010, Waters staged the $60 million spectacle in venues throughout the world – including the BankAtlantic Center back in November of that year ­– and two years later it’s still running strong. This is the kind of show that raises an impossible bar for all other shows, a carefully calibrated cauldron of inventive sets, creative staging, dazzling lighting and gigantic props, from Pink Floyd’s iconic airborne pig to a fire-eyed schoolmaster to a plane that collides into the brick wall. If you skipped this experience two years ago, don’t miss the boat again.

There is a 1982 comic strip about Ginger Rogers, whose most famous quote was actually directed at Fred Astaire. It went like this: “Sure, he was great, but don't forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards ... and in high heels!” The quote speaks volumes about the how much harder a woman had to work to succeed in the classic Hollywood studio system, which is one of the themes of this splashy biographical musical about the extraordinary dancer/actress. If the show’s title sounds familiar to South Florida theatergoers, it’s because “Backwards in High Heels” enjoyed its world premiere at the late, great Florida Stage in 2007. One of the venue’s greatest success story, the show has been produced in regional theaters ever since, and we can’t wait to see the Broward Stage Door’s take on it.

Remember back when puppet shows were just for kids? Back before marionettes had X-rated sex in “Team America: World Police” and hand puppets sang about the joys of pornography on Broadway’s “Avenue Q?” Neither do we. This kind of fabric-and-latex raunch will continue in July when Actors’ Playhouse opens the show “Real Men Sing Show Tunes and Play With Puppets.” But until then, the Puppetry Center of the Palm Beaches, a Delray institution in the Pineapple Grove district, has got your adult puppeteering fix with this “adults only” ventriloquism and magic show with Richard Adler, a four-time Florida State Magic Champion (and probable department store Santa in his off-hours). Then again, if adult humor isn’t your thing, the 7 p.m. show promises to be totally clean.

Little Jake Mitchell isn’t so little anymore, but for a time, this Tampa Bay soul prodigy cut his teeth as a child performer in roadside talent contests – think of them as the “American Idol” of the ‘50s, sans the degrading snark. Anyway, Little Jake impressed the judges and fellow-musicians so much that he ended up performing alongside B.B. King, Sam Cooke and James Brown in traveling road shows. He remains most known for playing the University of Florida’s Gator Growl in 1960, becoming the first African-American singer to do so. He remains a dedicated showman, a blues-and-soul purist and, according to the videos on his website (littlejakemitchell.com), quite a snappy dresser. There’s no better time to check out the Arts Garage’s new blues series than to see this Florida legend.

If the roads in Mizner Park look to be jammed with nonmoving traffic for hours on end this Father’s Day, don’t fret. Just park outside and stroll around the Park to view the more than 100 unique automobiles that will be on display at this second annual event, which raises funds for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Dads will love this show, but so will moms and kids, and it promises something for everyone. Antiques, classics, street rods, custom builds, race cars, sports cars, imports, hand-built cars and one-of-a-kind autos from 1900 to present day will gleam under the boiling sun.

Double the Waters in one week! Three nights after his father Roger will leave the BankAtlantic Center in a shambles, Harry Waters will play a markedly calmer set of jazz piano music at a significantly more intimate venue. Pink Floyd fans received their first taste of Harry Waters when he was a child – it was his voice that said, “Look, mummy, there’s an aeroplane up in the sky” at the beginning of Floyd’s “Goodbye, Blue Sky.” These days, Roger’s impressively bearded offspring has forged a unique identity of his own, playing jazz standards and original compositions that have the freewheeling improvisation of his heroes, Phish and the Grateful Dead.